arnoldu The Magazine of the Arnold Arboretum VOLUME 73 • NUMBER 1 * 2015 Ainoldia (ISSN 0004-2633; USPS 866-100) is published quarterly by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, Massachusetts. Subscriptions are $20.00 per calendar year domestic, $25.00 foreign, payable in advance. Remittances may be made in U.S. dollars, by check drawn on a U.S. bank; by international money order; or by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. Send orders, remittances, requests to purchase back issues, change-of-address notices, and all other subscription-related communica- tions to Circulation Manager, Ainoldia, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston, MA 02130- 3500. Telephone 617.524.1718; fax 617.524.1418; e-mail arnoldia@arnarb .harvard. edu Arnold Arboretum members receive a subscrip- tion to Ainoldia as a membership benefit. To become a member or receive more information, please call Wendy Krauss at 617.384.5766 or email wendy_krauss@harvard.edu Postmaster: Send address changes to Ainoldia Circulation Manager The Arnold Arboretum 125 Arborway Boston, MA 02130-3500 Nancy Rose, Editoi Andy Winther, Designei Editoiial Committee Phyllis Andersen Peter Del Tredici Michael S. Dosmann William (Ned) Friedman Kanchi N. Gandhi CONTENTS 2 Charles Edward Faxon: Botanical Draftsman Michael S. Dosmann and Lisa E. Pearson 1 1 Book Review: The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty- First Century Phyllis Andersen 17 Filing A Missing Rose Claim: Jackson Dawson and the Arnold Rose Benjamin Whitacre 28 Midsummer Flurries Nancy Rose Front cover : Cinco de Mayo rose [Rosa 'Wekcobeju'). Photo by Nancy Rose. Inside fiont cover: A hand-colored lantern slide from around 1920 showing the Arboretum pond later named for Charles Faxon. The pink-flowered shrubs in the woods are pinkshell azalea ( Rhododendron vaseyi). Archives of the Arnold Arboretum. Inside back cover: 'Snow Queen' oakleaf hydrangeas [Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen', accession 318-94) in bloom in front of the Arboretum's Hunnewell Visitor Center. Photo by Nancy Rose. Back cover: This rose was labeled Rosa spinosissima but its yellow flowers indicate it may be R. x harisonii, a hybrid of the white-flowered R. spinosissima and yellow-flowered R. foetida. Photo by Nancy Rose. Copyright © 2015. The President and Fellows of Harvard College The ARNOLD ARBORETUM of HARVARD UNIVERSITY SEP 22 2015 UBRAR'SS- Charles Edward Faxon: Botanical Draftsman Michael S. Dosmann and Lisa E. Pearson Near the Arnold Arboretum's Bradley Rosaceous Collection, at the south end of Meadow Road, lie three ponds whose names commemorate three staff mem- bers from the early years of the Arboretum: Jackson Dawson (propagator and superinten- dent), Alfred Rehder (taxonomist), and Charles Faxon (assistant director and botanical illustra- tor). These men, along with founding director Charles Sprague Sargent and explorer-botanist Ernest Henry Wilson, played central roles in shaping the Arboretum into the renowned institution that it remains today. Faxon's mark — in indelible ink no less — is the one we celebrate here. Charles Edward Faxon was horn in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Massachu- setts, in 1846, not far from the land that was to become the Arnold Arboretum in 1872. As a child, he developed dual interests in natural history and art. Much of his schooling in natu- ral history was provided by his older brother Edwin Faxon (1823-1898), who was an accom- plished naturalist and had a particular interest in the cryptogams of New England. After their father's death in 1855, Edwin took Charles and younger brother Walter under his wing, teach- ing them the flora and fauna of the countryside surrounding Boston. Edwin had collected an extensive herbarium, which his younger broth- ers no doubt also used for their studies. Around the same time, English artist James D. Hard- ing published Lessons on Trees, a manual that Charles studied to learn the basics of illustra- tion. As a teenager, he was apparently known to proficiently reproduce Audubon's illustrations of birds and make successful pencil sketches and watercolors of the New England landscape. A love of nature might lead to a happy avoca- tion, hut as a career, even now it doesn't always pay the hills. And so, following his public school education, Charles enrolled in the Lawrence A portrait of Charles Faxon from around 1916. Scientific School (now the School of Engineer- ing and Applied Sciences at Harvard Univer- sity), graduating in 1867 with a degree in civil engineering. He then took up work clerking in the family business of leather procurement and merchandizing. Charles Faxon remained a life- long learner and studied the classics of English literature as well as teaching himself most of the modern European languages. In the late 1870s, a pivotal event for the Faxon brothers occurred when Yale Professor Daniel Cady Eaton called upon them to make collections for Eaton's two-volume Ferns of North America (published in 1879 and 1880). It was in this work that Charles's illustrations, executed in watercolors, first appeared in print, ALL IMAGES FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED ION HETMAN Charles Edward Faxon 3 A contemporary view of Faxon Pond (see inside front cover for a lantern slide from nearly the same viewpoint, circa 1920). wonderfully complementing Eaton's erudite text. Charles was responsible for a number of the plates in Volume One and all of the plates in Volume Two. FAXON AT THE ARBORETUM In 1879, Faxon became a botany instructor at Harvard's Bussey Institution, a school adjacent to the Arboretum that was dedicated to the agricultural and natural sciences. In 1882, C. S. Sargent hired him on a part-time basis as an assistant director at the Arbo- retum. In this position he was to curate the herbarium and organize the library, both of which were growing as quickly as the living collections. How- ever, Faxon's primary charge was to assist Sargent with the Silva of North America by pro- ducing its illustrations. This seminal treatment, written by Sargent, spanned 14 volumes published between 1891 and 1902, and covered the known woody plants of the United States and Canada. Sargent — the then "dean of American dendrology" — wrote elo- quently and assertively about the various ligneous species, while Faxon brought the plants to life with painstaking detail and beauty in pen-and- ink. By the end of the project, some 744 plates for the Silva had been produced from Fax- on's ink drawings. One fine example is his illustration of the vine maple ( Acer circinatum), native to the Pacific Northwest. Faxon captured the full array of diagnostic characteristics necessary for identification, without whimsy, yet with an astonishing delicacy and grace. In the forefront, the eyes are drawn to a rounded leaf, the margins and primary veins boldly and prominently outlined, as are the striking fruits from the same plane. The remaining leaf of this branch, and those shown on the flowering and sterile branches in the background, are drawn in lighter weights. When coupled to his subtle use of shading, the variable line weights effectively create a depth of field, a sense of realism that does not detract from the scientific purpose. Magnified details of individual flowers, both male and female, as well as fruits, accompany 4 Arnoldia73/l • July 2015 Illustrations of two Polypodium species and brittle maidenhair fern [Adiantum tenerum) by Charles Faxon, published in Daniel Cady Eaton's Ferns of North America, 1879-1880. C.H. Faxon, del POLYPODIUM PEGTINATUM, L. ArmsUor^ &. Co LitKBosbn POLYPODIUM PHYLLITID1S, L. Plate XLil Charles Edward Faxon 5 6 Arnoldia 73/1 • July 2015 Silva of North America E, Fawn del. Picart />’ ACER CIRCINATUM Pursh Adlioeretui direu'* ImpRTh/mir Fa/'ts Charles Faxon's accurate and elegant illustration of Acer circinatum from the Silva of North America. Charles Edward Faxon 7 Platk XIV. Top: A Charles Faxon drawing of Sequoiadendron giganteum (then known as Sequoia gigante ) foliage and cone from Sargent’s Manual of the Trees of North America. Bottom: A Charles Faxon drawing of Malus tschonoskii (then known as Pyrus tschono- skii ) from Sargent's Forest Flora of Japan. Two M. tschonoskii specimens (accession 3678-A and B) grown from seed that Sargent collected in Japan in 1892 still grow in the Arboretum collections. 8 Arnoldia73/l • July 2015 the leaves. Faxon's drawings were created first as botanical tools: that they are beautiful works of art is a bonus. His train- ing as an engineer, where the rules of technical drawing and drafting were crucial, certainly was put to great use as a botani- cal illustrator, hut he also possessed an artist's eye for composi- tion, which served to raise his work beyond that of his peers. Perhaps no finer praise exists than that provided by natural- ist John Muir, who reviewed the Silva in the July 1903 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. He wrote, "At the first glance through the hook, everyone must admire the fullness and beauty of the plates. They were made in Paris, from drawings from life, by Faxon, the foremost botanical artist in America ... these are so tellingly drawn and arranged, [that] any one with the slightest smattering of botany is enabled to identify each tree, even with- out referring to the text." While the text was important, the volumes would have been far less successful without Faxon's illustrations. Professor John George Jack, a friendly colleague of Faxon's at the Arboretum, felt similarly. Writing in an unpub- lished reflection (Archives of the Arnold Arboretum), Jack notes that without Faxon, the Silva "would never have grown to its final importance." And, interestingly, he observed that while Sargent "possessed financial means, a strong will and a liking for gardening and trees ..., he was a poor observer of details in nature, a deficiency which was abundantly supplied by Mr. Faxon." It may well be that it was through Faxon's abil- ity to recreate natural phenomena that Sargent was able to truly grasp the plants he was charged with describing. In addition to his work on the Silva, Faxon also produced illustrations for other Sargent publications including the jour- nal Garden and Forest (285 Faxon drawings appeared in the ten volumes published from 1888 to 1897), Forest Flora of Japan (1894), and the Manual of the Trees and Shrubs of North America (1905), which contained 642 Faxon drawings. He also created illustrations for other authors and, according to Sargent, some of the best examples of his work were the 34 drawings that accompanied John Donnell Smith's descriptions of Guate- malan plants, published in the Botanical Gazette from 1888 to 1894. All told, nearly 2,000 of Faxon's illustrations were pub- lished over a 34-year period, an impressive record! Beyond his accomplishments as an illustrator, Faxon served dutifully and steadfastly in the management of the library and herbarium. In a letter written August 15, 1905, by Faxon to his colleague Alfred Rehder (who was attending the 1905 Botani- cal Congress in Vienna), we get a wonderful glimpse of Faxon's pragmatic nature, as well as a sense of humor. On the subject of taxonomy and the subsequent naming of plants (just as much an issue then as it is now), Faxon laments about the proceedings of the botanical congress: "I fear there is still much to be done before nomenclature rests on a permanent basis. At any rate, for the present there will be as much confusion as ever." He also seems to poke a bit of fun at Sargent's obsession with haw- From Rough Sketch to Final Press THE ARCHIVES OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM hold all of Faxon's original ink drawings for the Silva of North America and the Manual of the Trees and Shrubs of North America , as well as many of his initial pencil sketches. The ini- tial sketches are rather coarse, but served as the base upon which the final product would rest. After his rough sketch — often lack- ing much detail — was complete, Faxon would flip the paper over and rub the reverse side with pen- cil. He then placed this, image side up, on the final drawing sheet and transferred the image by drawing over the outlines. The refined final drawing would then be produced in ink. Sargent chose to have Faxon's magnificent ink drawings engraved in Paris, a center of that art, by Eugene and Philibert Picart under the supervision of Alfred Rio- creux, whom Sargent described as "the most distinguished European botanical artist." He employed the noted horticulturist and land- scape designer Edouard Andre as his agent in France to oversee the work of the sometimes tempera- mental engravers. Facing page, clockwise from top: Faxon's rough sketch of Catalpa spe- ciosa. The pencil rubbings on the back that allowed him to copy the sketch are visible through the thin paper. Faxon's refined ink drawing of Catalpa speciosa, which was then sent to the engravers in Paris. A proof print from the final engraved plate of Catalpa speciosa for the Silva of North America. 10 Arnoldia 73/1 • July 2015 Faxon at work in the Arnold Arboretum library. Silva of North America Tab. DCLil. C£ Faxon. CRAT7EGUS SARGENT1 . Bead A HiO cscu-r direaz 1 Imp. J Tanrtir Parts thorns (and his penchant for assign- ing names), noting that he (Sargent) "is describing new species of Cratae- gus as fast as ever, having done some one hundred this summer!" Interestingly, Faxon chose not to exhibit his botanical expertise by writing papers; his most notewor- thy article was not about plants hut rather about the birds of the Arnold Arboretum. Sargent and Jack both attested to his exceptional knowl- edge and suggested that his lack of authorship was due to his great modesty and unselfish nature. In fact, Jack credits Faxon with provid- ing much of his botanical training. Unlike Jack and many other of liis Arboretum colleagues, Faxon did not travel the world, instead preferring short trips to the Berkshires in Mas- sachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont, or the Mount Washington region of New Hampshire. Faxon died in 1918, shortly after suffering a fall at home. In a tribute written in Rhodora that same year, Sargent (not usually one to lavish much praise) writes that "Faxon united accuracy witli graceful com- position and softness of outline. He worked with a sure hand and a great rapidity, and few botanical draftsmen have produced more. Certainly none of them have drawn the flowers, fruits and leaves of as many trees. Among the very few who in all time have excelled in the art of botani- cal draftsmanship Faxon's position is secure, and his name will live with those of the great masters of his art as long as plants are studied." For further reading: Sargent, C. S. 1918. Charles Edward Faxon. Rhodora 20: 117-122. C. S. Sargent named over 700 hawthorn ( Crataegus ) species, many of which Michael S. Dosmann is Curator of Living have since been reclassified. Fellow hawthorn enthusiast C. D. Beadle named Collections and Lisa E. Pearson is Head a species that Sargent collected near Rome, Georgia, after him. This is of Library and Archives at the Arnold Faxon's drawing of C. sargentii from the Silva of North America. Arboretum of Harvard University book review The New Sylva : A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century Phyllis Andersen The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet Bloomsbury, 2014. 390 pages. ISBN 978-1-4088-3544-9 In 1664 the Royal Society in London pub- lished Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majestie’s Dominions. The author, John Evelyn (1620-1706), was a founding member of the Society. Landowner, scholar, world traveler, Evelyn was a polymath whose concerns ranged from the causes of London's smog to the proper way to roll a gravel walk (use a marble roller obtained from "old Columns of diminished Antiqui- ties preferably those from the Levant"). He was a colleague of Samuel Pepys, and like Pepys an accomplished diarist. He created a much admired garden at Sayres Court in southeast London where he wrote exten- sively on the art of garden making. Gabriel Hemery, a forest scientist and self-described silvologist, and Sarah Simblet, an artist and instructor at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, have produced The New Sylva to honor Evelyn's achievement on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of its publication. Evelyn's title reveals that his Sylva was not written to document native species or to pro- pose forest planting and protection as part of greater environmental awareness, but as a call to replant trees and to protect the royal forests for the production of timber for ship building by the Royal Navy and for the building of defensive fortifications for cities and towns. His motive was economic, a prescription for increasing an inventory and for managing it with the latest forest management techniques. A careful court- ier, Evelyn dedicated his Sylva to Charles II, stating that it was written not to instruct the King hut to advise. Whether or not Evelyn's Sylva actually increased timber production for ship building is in some dispute but he did inspire estate owners to increase and refine their tree planting prac- tices. In fact, they may have been his intended audience. Evelyn unabashedly invoked class privilege by stating that his Sylva was "not alto- gether ... for the sake of ordinary rusticks, meer foresters and woodmen, hut for the benefit and diversion of Gentlemen and persons of quality." With full display of his knowledge of classical texts he quoted writers of the ancient world (Cato, Cicero, Pliny) to highlight the depth of the historical value of trees: "Even the Garden of Eden had to be dressed and kept." He inte- grated myths and ritual and bits of poetry into his tree descriptions following the long tradi- tion of viewing trees as imbued with mystery and power. 12 Arnoldia73/l • July 2015 Evelyn developed four categories of trees in his Sylva: solid and dry timber (oak, beech, ash, chestnut, and walnut), light timber (maple, lime [linden], birch, and hazel), aquatical (pop- lar, alder, and willow), and fir trees and pines. Reflecting the structure of the British country- side, he added a section on fences, hedges, and coppices. His tree descriptions included details of form, growth characteristics, geographic dis- tribution, cultural requirements, and value as timber. He added a section on "infirmaties of trees," a manual of tree ailments. A last chapter reflects on "Sacredness and the use of standing groves" that describes the significance of trees to societies across the world. But it was the oak that Evelyn deemed most valuable. He devoted over fifty pages of his text to this species so beloved by the British people for its strength, its economic value, and its visual distinction. Most notably, Evelyn's 1 664 Sylva did not include illustrations, reflecting its origins as a report to the King. It went through four editions in his lifetime and numerous editions after his death. Sylva (now more often spelled "silva") in its Latinate form refers to a place: a wood, a planta- tion, a grove. The word evolved in later usage to mean a particular form of botanical literature that describes trees of a particular region. Before the electronic age, silvas joined other forms of plant documentation with specific boundar- ies: floras, which were detailed descriptions of all the plants of a region both woody and her- baceous, and pomonas, which described fruit trees. Floras and pomonas were often sumptu- ous productions on fine paper with illustrations by well-known artists. The exploration of the territories of North America provoked a heightened interest in new plant species including timber producing trees. Frangois Andre Michaux (1770-1855), son of the French botanist Andre Michaux, produced Histoire des arbres forestiers de l’Amerique septentrionale, an account of his explorations of the United States north of Mexico and east of the Rocky Mountains. It was published in three volumes from 1810 to 1813 and later translated by Augustus Lucas Hillhouse into English as The North American Sylva. Mich- aux's work was enhanced by illustrations by the renowned French flower painter Pierre-Joseph SYLVA, Or A DISCOURSE Of FOREST-TREES, AND THE Propagation of Timber In Hir MAJESTIES Dominions. By~J. E. Efq7~ Asit was Deliver'd in the R OYAL SOCIETY the xv"1 of October, CIDIDCLXII. upon Occafion of certain guixrics Propounded to that Hwjlnmr Afi.mblj, by the Honorable ihe Principal OJJUcrr, and Cirnmifli own of the Nay y. To which i? annexed POAtONA Or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to CIDER ; The Making and fcvcral ways of Ordering it. Vnblijhtd ly txpnfr Order of the ROYAL SOCIETY. ALSO KALENDARIVM HORTEN SB:, Or, Gardners Almonte i Dirc&ine what he h to do Mmrtblj throughout the Ttar. * Ttbi rcl avtiqtoc ! audit & arttr Ingndi